Figures on July retail sales, industrial production and urban investment all missed forecasts, a trend that is only likely to get worse given the recent tightening in coronavirus restrictions there.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan eased 0.5%, nudging back toward the lows for the year touched last month.
· China Jan-July property investment up 12.7% y/y, slowing from H1
Real estate investment in China rose 12.7% in January-July from a year earlier, cooling from a 15% gain seen in the first six months, official data showed on Monday.
· Japan’s Nikkei 225 falls nearly 2%; China economic data disappoints
Retail sales in China rose 8.5% in July as compared with a year ago, according to official data released Monday. That was far lower than the 11.5% rise forecast by analysts in a Reuters poll.
Meanwhile, industrial production grew 6.4% in July, also falling short of expectations for a 7.8% year-on-year increase for the month, according to the Reuters poll.
Mainland Chinese stocks were lower, with the Shanghai composite sitting below the flatline while the Shenzhen component shed 0.728%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index declined 1.21%.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 dropped 1.62% to close at 27,523.19, with shares of Fast Retailing and SoftBank Group falling more than 2% each. The Topix index shed 1.61% on the day to close at 1,924.98.
Japan’s GDP rose 0.3% in the second quarter as compared with the previous three months, when it contracted 0.9%, according to official preliminary estimates released Monday. The April-June data print beat market forecasts for a 0.2% increase, according to Reuters.
Elsewhere in Southeast Asia, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI Index in Malaysia slipped 0.53%, as a minister announced the cabinet of Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has submitted its resignation to the king.
Shares in Australia also dipped, with the S&P/ASX 200 0.61% lower to close at 7,582.50.
South Korea’s markets are closed on Monday for a holiday.
· The ringgit last traded at 4.2410 per dollar, its lowest since July 2020, while the FTSE Bursa Malaysia index fell as much as 0.7%, their worst intraday drop in nearly two weeks.
Analysts at Maybank expect the ringgit to ease off to between 4.220 and 4.240, with immediate resistance at 4.2440 holding for now.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 traded down around 0.5% shortly after the opening bell, with all sectors and major bourses in negative territory.
Reference: CNBC, Reuters
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